Nicki Minaj: 10 hottest videos, from 'BedRock' to 'Super Bass'

Nicki Minaj is her own kind of videogenic, a colorful presence who took the hip-hop world by storm from practically her first appearance in Young Money's "BedRock."

Here's a look at Nicki's hottest videos. And by hottest, what we mean here is most viewed, not sexiest (although some clearly work on both levels). All figures were taken from NickiMinajAtVEVO as of Sunday, Aug. 5.

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1. "Super Bass" (2011; 269,088,077 views)

OK, this one towers over all the others with 269 million-some views since its initial posting on VEVO last summer. Directed by Sanaa Hamri, who's on the short list of promient female music-video directors, "Super Bass" is also, not coincidentally, the rapper's hottest-selling single. In an interview with MTV, Minaj said, "I just wanted to do something real colorful and cutesy. This is an icy world, it's a sexy world, it's a playful world. Of course I have lots of eye candy for my girls and my boys." That eye candy includes ripped washboard abs on the men and booty-popping, cleavage-pimping female dancers. It won Best Hip-Hop Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

2. "Bedrock" by Young Money (2009; 85,153,757)

This is a group effort, but Nicki definitely stands out, whether applying her makeup while showing some serious leg while Lloyd is promising to make your bed rock or actually rapping. A flashy Barbie pendant resting on her Barbie-worthy cleavage, she raps, "OK, I get it/Lemme think/I guess it's my turn/Maybe it's time to put this on your, on your sideburns." That scene of her twirling her gum is also pretty classic. The clip was directed by Dayo and Lil Wayne himself.

3. "Moment 4 Life," featuring Drake (2011; 60,877,706)

Directed by Chris Robinson, this fairy-tale video features the wedding of Nicki and Drake after setting the scene with a page from a book. It reads: "Once upon a time, there lived a king named Nicki. One day, while sitting on her throne, she received an enchanting visit from her fairy Godmother. She would remember that moment for life." Her Godmother gives her a pair of enchanted heels and Nicki heads off to the ball, where she meets Drake. On the day it premiered, MTV News proclaimed it "the most Nicki Minaj video of all time" for having crammed together every aspect of her personality in "one very shiny package."

4. "Starships" (2012; 60,645,288)

Shot by Anthony Mandler in the tropical island paradise of Oahu, Hawaii, it features Minaj in two very distinct yet equally revealing bikinis. There's also a starship, but that's just Nicki's ride. This clip is more about Minaj and those bikinis (although she did make sure to throw some buff male shirtless dancers in there, too, to give everyone something to look at). The kaleidoscopic video effects are nice, too.

5. "Stupid Hoe" (2012; 59,775,639)

Directed by the great Hype Williams, it starts with a close-up of Nicki's lips (in a variety of colors) interspersed with scenes of girls playing jump rope. She's holding a leg above her head while wearing bright blue makeup by the time the rapping starts. It's a colorful cartoonish clip with plenty of opportunities for Nicki to make crazy faces. There's also what looks to be a Barbie doll whose behind was refashioned to look even more like Minaj. It was the first video to reach 4.8 million views within 24 hours of being uploaded to VEVO.

6. "Beez in the Trap," featuring 2 Chainz (2012; 58,073,949)

Benny Boom directed this one, which starts with Minaj behind barbed wire, interspersed with footage of a disco ball in a confetti shower, a smoking man and a girl in a bikini on a dance floor. Eventually, Minaj is in the club, waving money around in a colorful bikini, gold chains and bright green hair. When 2 Chainz drops by for his guest rap, Nicki's in a skintight leopard-spot bodysuit, often shot from behind (as you may have expected) and grinding to the beat. And she seems almost overdressed compared to the dancer in a g-string.

7. "Check It Out," with will.i.am (2010; 55,899,258)

Rich Lee directed this tribute to Japanese anime (although the guy who introduces the Buggles-sampling song is speaking Korean, not Japanese; same with the words on the screen). Nicki's facial expressions, of course, are custom-made for anime, so good call there. Will.i.am told MTV, "You can expect to see a bunch of flyness as far as the outfits. When I say flyness, I'm talking about Nicki's outfits. She's looking super-duper fly and whatnot."

8. "Your Love" (2010; 49,102,760)

Minaj told MTV, "We wanted to have geisha themes, samurai themes, stuff like that. I wanted to tell a love story. It's just kinda liking a guy, where he's not really for you to like -- the forbidden fruit -- and me and this other girl happen to like him and we go to war." Minaj stars as a samurai-in-training who falls for her instructor, although those scenes are interspersed with footage of her rapping as a very leggy geisha. Minaj and another student who's fallen for the same instrument eventually duel for his affections. And it doesn't end well.

9. "Massive Attack," featuring Sean Garrett (2010; 48,576,332)

Her first Hype Williams video came together after a chance encounter in an airport. As Minaj told MTV, "I met Hype in a freakin' airport...and it happened to be a week before I wanted to shoot a video. I told him the idea." She also said the video was for "the girls that like to play dress-up." It was shot in the desert because, as Minaj told MTV, "We wanted to make it pretty in the dirt. We wanted to have a very crazy contrast. I didn't want to do everything clean. I like the dirt. All that pink stuff looks even prettier in the dirt."

10. "Right By My Side," featuring Chris Brown (2012; 43,425,239)

Nicki tweeted in May that "Right By My Side" is her favorite video she's ever shot. Benny Boom directed, with Nas appearing as her love interest. Most scenes show them as a happy couple, leaning in to kiss each other, hugging, throwing a coin in a fountain, shopping. He even surprises Minaj with a car, which is nice. So where does Chris Brown fit in? It's not really clear, but is seems as though she may be hooking up with him behind her boyfriend's back.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Twitter.com/EdMasley